This invention relates to a method of knitting, on a knitting machine having independently operable needles disposed in at least two needle beds, for example a flat V-bed machine, an article having a mainly double jersey structure and which comprises two areas having respective edges which are joined together on the machine, during the knitting of the article, so that wales on opposite sides of the join between said edges are inclined to one another. Such an article will be referred to hereinafter as "an article of the kind referred to".
FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings are plans illustrating a conventional way of producing an article of the kind referred to on a flat V-bed knitting machine, FIG. 1 being a purely schematic diagram to illustrate the knitting procedure, and FIG. 2 being a diagram of the knitted article.
In order to produce the article shown in FIG. 2, a piece 1 of fabric, see FIG. 1, is first knitted with courses of equal length to form a rectangular fabric extending from a starting course 2 to a course 3. Needles of the machine are then progressively rendered inactive in the direction from left to right, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that as knitting continues, in the direction of the arrow A, shorter and shorter courses are produced to form a piece 4 of fabric of trapezoidal shape extending from course 3 to course 5. As each needle is rendered inactive it retains the last loop it knitted. When course 5 has been knitted, progressive re-activation of the inactive needles is performed during the knitting of a further piece 6 of fabric between courses 5 and 7, the piece 6 also being of trapezoidal shape. As the fabric piece 6 is being knitted, the edges designated 8 and 9 in FIG. 1 are automatically joined, this joining being indicated schematically by the chain lines 10 in FIG. 1. When all the previously inactivated needles have been re-activated, upon completion of course 7, knitting continues with courses of equal length to produce a further piece 11 of fabric of rectangular shape extending from course 7 to a final course 12. The final appearance of the article is as shown in FIG. 2. It will be appreicated that the knitted wales extending between courses 2 and 5 are inclined to the knitted wales extending between courses 5 and 12.
Knitted joins of the kind described above are frequently used in the production of knitted garments. For example, the article shown in FIG. 2 may form part of the shoulder region of a cardigan, where the fabric piece 1 forms part of a body panel of the cardigan and the fabric piece 11 forms part of a sleeve of the cardigan. By joining the two fabric pieces, on the machine, at the edges 8 and 9, the sleeve part of the cardigan is automatically inclined to the body panel as the knitting proceeds.
In the production of the article shown in FIG. 2, the edges 8 and 9 are not exactly straight owing to the step-wise inactivation and subsequent step-wise re-activation of needles of the machine. Instead, the edges 8 and 9 have a stepped configuration, as shown in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings, which is a schematic view, on an enlarged scale, of part of the join between the edges 8 and 9 of the article of FIG. 2. From FIG. 3 it will be seen that the joining of the two edges 8 and 9 results in the formation of a series of holes 13 in the fabric along the join. The area of these holes will be the larger the greater the angles R and S (in FIG. 1) are chosen. Generally speaking, the existence of these holes 13 becomes apparent when either of the angles R and S exceeds 45 degrees.
In FIG. 1 the edges 8 and 9 are approximately straight. In some knitted articles the edges 8 and 9 may have a generally convex or concave curvature, as shown in FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings, which is a diagram similar to FIG. 1 relating to a modified form of the article of FIG. 2. The problem of hole formation when the curved edges 8a and 9a, in FIG. 4, are joined again begins to become apparent when either of the angles R and S exceeds 45 degrees. In this case the angles R and S denote the inclination to the knitting line X--X of tangents to the curved edges 8a and 9a at points such as G and H on these two edges which are joined to one another in the finished article. Clearly, unlike the situation in FIG. 1, the angles R and S have different values at different points along the edges 8a and 9a. Therefore, when the edges 8a and 9a are joined during the knitting procedure, the formation of holes along the join may not be apparent when the angles R and S are less than 45 degrees (for example in the regions FG and FH of the edges 8a and 9a), but will become increasingly apparent, in the direction from right to left, as viewed in FIG. 4, as the angles R and S exceed 45 degrees (for example in the regions GB and HD of the edges 8a and 9a).
In some knitted articles the appearance of the holes 13 along a join line may not be objectionable and, indeed, may be desirable, for example to produce a decorative effect in the join between a sleeve part and a body panel of a cardigan. However, in other articles, such a series of holes along a join may be objectionable. For example, in the case of knitted upholstery fabric, the presence of a series of holes along a join may reveal the presence of underlying structure, such as padding material, which spoils the appearance of the fabric.
Referring to FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that the edge 8 is knitted along a needle bed length equal to the distance BC. Likewise, the edge 9 is knitted along a needle bed length equal to the distance DE. However, when the edges 8 and 9 are joined the stitches of edge 8 extend through the distance BF and the stitches of edge 9 extend through the length DF. Since BF is greater than BC and DF is greater than DE, this means that the knitted fabric is stretched slightly along the join between the edges 8 and 9. This stretching is accommodated by the elastic nature of the fabric.
The present invention aims to provide a method of knitting, on a knitting machine having independently operable needles disposed in at least two needle beds, an article of the kind referred to in which steps are taken to render less apparent the above-described holes along said joint of the article. The invention also includes an article knitted by the method.